Thanks, and no thanks, to arguably the most bizarre injury epidemic in franchise history, the Broncos used seven tailbacks last season. Six started. None gained as many as 345 yards.

Even in the years of the 14-game schedules, even in the strike-shortened, nine-game season of 1982, the Broncos always had at least one running back gain at least 345 yards.

As the Broncos’ new brain trust of coach Josh McDaniels and general manager Brian Xanders attempts to build a stronger roster for the 2009 season, it’s no secret the team’s greatest offensive need is at running back. A back who can break off a long run in the first half, and protect a lead by moving the sticks in the fourth quarter.

The Broncos could get a proven running back in the free-agent market that opens Thursday at 10:01 p.m. MST, but this would mean paying a price for a runner whose legs already have absorbed some NFL pounding.

Or the Broncos’ new bosses can follow the common strategy of the old boss, Mike Shanahan, and attempt to find a quality running back in the draft.

“I think you can get into the fourth round with this class,” NFL draft analyst Mike Mayock said. “You can get into the fourth round and get a guy like Jeremiah Johnson from Oregon. The kid from Liberty (Rashad Jennings), who’s 230 pounds, that’s going to be a third-round kind of guy.”

Still, it would be difficult for the 2009 running back class to match its predecessor. The three best rookies in 2008 were the fifth, sixth and 11th running backs chosen. Chris Johnson went No. 24 overall to Tennessee, Chicago took Matt Forte at No. 44 in the second round and Houston stole Steve Slaton at No. 89 in the third round.

The top four drafted running backs last year — Darren McFadden, Jonathan Stewart, Felix Jones and Rashard Mendenhall — combined to average 415 yards rushing as rookies. Johnson, Slaton and Forte had a combined average of 1,249 yards.

“A lot of times people get overlooked,” said Texas A&M’s Mike Goodson, a third- to fifth-round projection this year. “Not to say that everybody else is not talented, but there are a lot of talented guys in the draft. You’ve just got to look deep.”

But is this class of backs as deep as last year’s class?

“I don’t think so,” said Kevin Colbert, the top football operations executive of the Super Bowl champion Pittsburgh Steelers. “Some of the underclassmen did come out, and it’s OK.”

The Broncos lead the league in running backs that are OK. Peyton Hillis was even superb as a converted fullback, and he will be a keeper providing he sufficiently recovers from his torn hamstring. But the Broncos would need a speed back to complement him.

Ryan Torain was impressive in one half of one game last season, and he will get another chance providing he returns healthy from knee surgery. But the knee was one of three major injuries in two years for Torain, so the Broncos will always need another.

Tatum Bell finished off a remarkable comeback last season, but even in his prime, he was considered a change-of-pace runner who needed a between-the-tackles back to spell him.

With the exceptions of a few games early in the disastrous Travis Henry era, the Broncos have not had a complete back since they traded Clinton Portis for Champ Bailey and Bell after the 2003 season.

Can they do better than OK this year? None of the top four-rated running backs in the April 25-26 draft — Georgia’s Knowshon Moreno, Connecticut’s Donald Brown, Ohio State’s Chris “Beanie” Wells and Pitt’s LeSean McCoy — are considered worthy of the Broncos’ first pick, No. 12 overall.

But starting with their No. 48 choice in the second round, where Brown, Wells, McCoy or Iowa’s Shonn Greene could fall, on through the fourth or fifth rounds, where Colorado State’s Gartrell Johnson or Wyoming’s Devin Moore might be available, the Broncos could get a back capable of competing for the No. 1 tailback spot sometime next season.

“You can get great players through any round, you can pick them up through (undrafted) free agency,” Brown said. “It doesn’t matter where you start; it’s where you finish.”

If only the Broncos can find a running back who can both start, and finish, the same season.

Mike Klis was with The Denver Post from Jan. 1, 1998 before leaving in 2015 to join KUSA 9News. He covered the Rockies and Major League Baseball until the 2005 All-Star break, when he was asked to start covering the Broncos.

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